One team is happy with the short, up-the-coast tourney location – unfortunately, it’s not the Seahawks.

Tonight the UNC Wilmington men’s basketball squad will face The University of Southern California in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament. UNCW secured a No. 13 seed in the South Regional for the Big Dance after winning the Colonial Athletic Association Championship.

“We’re excited about being in the NCAA’s,” UNCW Coach Jerry Wainwright said. “[Our players] understand what they’re facing. Our mindset is more about basketball than the trip.”

The trip to Sacramento, Calif., is a long one. In fact, UNCW has the longest trip out of all the 65 participating teams in the tournament at over 3,000 miles. The No. 4-seeded Trojans of USC have about an hour-long flight to the state capital, which is the same as heading to play fellow PAC-10 conference opponents U.C.-Berkley and Stanford University.

“You can’t be disappointed because there are a lot of other teams who have their equipment packed away,” Wainwright said. “Do we want to play in Sacramento? Of course not. Do we want to play in the NCAA Tournament? Of course we do.”

Wainwright also said that being three time zones away will hurt the opportunity for Seahawk fans to attend the game. “It’s more that few of our families will be able to see us in person. Somebody had to travel. I just don’t know why it was us.”

Junior guard Brett Blizzard view the trip as a conquerable challenge. “Unfortunately, we have to travel a long way, but if that is what we’ve got to do then we’re gonna do it.”

Similar to UNCW’s first NCAA Tournament appearance against the University of Cincinnati, the Trojans will look to overcome Blizzard’s outside touch. The Bearcats held the freshman Blizzard to 5 points in a season where he averaged 15.6 points per game.

Wainwright said this year’s squad is deeper than two years ago. “If we are relying on Brett to win the game, we’re not going to win the game. We have to win it as a team. I think we have the balance this year to do that.

“I know Brett will be at the top of everyone’s scouting report. I’m sure Southern Cal will do everything they can to take him out. We’ve got to score at other positions, and I think we have the team that can do that this year.”

Blizzard indicated he is better prepared for tonight’s contest compared to the 2000 appearance. “We’re not going as a tourist team this time,” the CAA Player-of-the-Year said. “I think the first year we were. We were just happy to be going. Now we are trying to win. We know we can win.”

The Seahawks opponent heads into the tourney 22-9, and was a finalist for the PAC-10 Title. Last season, USC made it to the Elite 8 in the tournament.

Blizzard’s nemesis on the court will be PAC-10 Player-of-the-Year Sam Clancy. Clancy, a 6-7 senior forward from Fairfield, Ohio, leads USC in scoring (19.0), rebounding (9.5) and blocks (1.4).

Clancy was pleased with the First Round location. “We don’t have to go through a time change or go too far from home, which is a plus.”

Coach Henry Bibby is in his sixth season for the Trojans. The Franklin native indicated he looks forward to tonight’s matchup but is not familiar with the Seahawks’ abilities. “I don’t know too much about UNC Wilmington besides the fact I grew up about 100 miles from there. My assistants tell me they’re a good team that executes well.”

Tonight at 7:55 (EST), Bibby will have the opportunity to see the East-coast opponent first-hand, while Wainwright will see if his team can outperform the West-coast travel and one of its top teams.